Sunday Confessions

Sunday, 20 September 2015

1. I have a dentist's appt (just a clean/check up) tomorrow, which means I have been over-flossing all week to try to get my gums to seem like gums that are flossed twice a day/not just when I remember.(;-/) After years of American dentists giving me flossing speeches, the fear still runs deep. The irony being my Scottish dentist has never once shamed me about my oral health, given me so much as a tut (and yes the obnoxious American in me does think this is because *whispers* most of theBritish teeth he sees are probably worse than mine. (ducks!)

2. This week was the hubby and I's 15th anniversary of first meeting. We don't make a huge deal of it generally as our wedding anniversary is a mere three weeks later (plus a year, it wasn't quite that whirlwind!). It amazes me how looong it's been though, 15 years, eek! It seems like only yesterday I was sat home alone in Brooklyn on a rainy Tuesday night when my friend Karol called me up and asked if I wanted to hang with her and her Scottish visitors! I really had no idea how quickly my life was about to change (like I would!). While sometimes it feels like another lifetime, I can still remember the first time I saw my husband and just knew like I'd never known before that I was completely in trouble, for good. If the feeling hadn't of been mutual it would have been a disaster! We just watched the film Barney's Version last night and there is one of those only in the movies love at first sight moments that I never believed in until the moment I met David. I never post this schmaltzy stuff on Facebook because it makes me cringe when other people do it (a bit) but it's my blog so....deal ;-)

3. September is Blood Cancer Awareness month. As a Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma survivor I get really fed up with how little media attention it gets and how Breast Cancer awareness which is in OCTOBER, is already seeping in everywhere this month with their glittery pink tee shirts and jazzy campaigns, and I feel like a jerk for complaining about it because who can resent cancer awareness but seriously Breast Cancer awareness are such attention hogs! We all know about Breast Cancer, most people do not know about Blood Cancers, quit sucking up OUR month! Plus they decided to change the name of the awareness campaign (in the U.K. anyway) to Blood Wise, which I think sounds kind of gross/off putting. But it's happening, so let's embrace it .

So yeah, we're the awkwardly named cancer with the lime green logos, everyone form an orderly queue for t-shirts! Seriously though, Blood Cancers do deserve greater awareness, they (can) tend to strike young people (I was 28 at time of diagnosis), without any known cause, and survival rates have not made the leaps and bounds that other cancers have in recent years. It can't be prevented with diet or lifestyle, it can't be predicted with genes. We need more money, more research, more AWARENESS - it took me three months of very insistent begging even though I had the known symptoms for my (admittedly rare) type of Lymphoma to get seen by a specialist (yes I should write a whole post in regards to this but for today this will have to do). Here is a link to the new Bloodwise site for anyone interested in finding out more about this cancer and what we can do to beat it, thanks. xo

I have read that American dentists are a little bit more... vigilant? Insistent? About the whole flossing/teeth care game. I usually up my flossing two weeks before my appointment, but this time round I forgot about the appointment so got chastised for my gums :( I really need to just floss all of the time.

Ha ha it kind of is! And I hate to say it but over saturation can sort of make people tune out, I wish they'd wake up to that. I apologized to my dentist for the state of my gums and he was all: "No big deal, you're FINE" which I know is a lie! He's way too nice, I need to be scolded to shame me into flossing!

I hate flossing, the last time I flossed I ended up making such a huge mess since then I stopped flossing *shame* Awww congratulations on your 15th anniversary of the first date, crazy isn't it? I totally agree with you, something get more attention than the other. Recently my friend found out that her mum has blood cancer, it just came out of nowhere and I don't know much about it, I feel bad because of it... I hope all is well with you know, it is shame that they can't really tell you why it happens...

Thank you! I've also started oil pulling again recently which I do think helps gums stay healthy. So sorry to hear about your friend's Mom, it really is a cancer that can strike anyone at any time (scary and sucks, big time), which is why it frustrates me it doesn't get more attention on the media and funding front. On the plus side it can be curable, all the best for your friend and her family. xo

Very well written. I loved these. I agree with you much on the breast cancer thing. I actually did a blog post about it back in 2013; I'd like to invite you to read it if you feel like it. (It does need some cosmetic editing, but the thoughts are all there.)http://unitedstatesofbecky.blogspot.com/2013/10/grrrpink-month.html

Thanks Becky I'm going to read it now! I feel like an a-hole even mentioning it, because I have loved ones who have had breast cancer, I get mammograms myself because of my cancer treatment putting me at higher risk for breast cancer. Awareness on all fronts is important, I just hate that it washes over/ drowns out so many other diseases that equally need awareness. xo

About Me

Hi! I'm Steff. I'm an American who lives in Scotland. Expect me to write about a little bit of everything! My most recent passion is body positivity and learning to embrace health at any size. I am a film/t.v. addict and cancer survivor so I write about that sometimes too...no niche yet found! :-)